Originally posted by syzygy
eek! Where do you find such misintrepreted, ignorant information? Islam and Christianity aren't opposed if that's what this propaganda is being used for. ...

....No, they grow up with an interpretation that fighting should be done in the physical world instead of the spiritual. A misinterpretation that has also fallen upon Christianity. The existance of the Shi'ites and Sufis immediately displaces any charges that this behavior is inherent in Islam.
Well, what do I have wrong?

You see, people are told that Mohamed is a Great Prophet, just as they are told that Saint Paul is a Saint. And after being given this Orientation and Predisposition, they receive all of the Narrative and 'spin' it to cover for every benefit of the doubt. But if one simply looks at the Story Narrative of Mohamed, one sees a opportunistic gigolo who married for money, who made a name for himself by refusing to pay homage to the Pagan Clique in Mecca who payed homage to the local Idols, probably complaining about the expense and the tithing... a version of Tax Rebellion which has always appealed to those of selfish disposition and narrow mind. Not having any backbone, he ran away when he aroused serious opposition. No longer having his Mecca assets to live upon, he turned to banditry. Those who had welcomed him in his exile, when they found that he was a bandit stealing from their trading routes, expressed their objections, and he murdered them off. Gaining support in the countryside he waged a War against Mecca. But when the Forces of Mecca eventually got the upper hand, Mohamed, willing enough to send his own armies to their death, quickly came to Peace Terms in order to save his own skin -- again, proving himself ever again to be a coward. And look at the Peace Terms he adopted. He surrendered every Muslim to in perpetuity to Worship the Idols of Mecca that he had started off complaining about. So we have the Huge Contradiction of every Muslim who insist that Worshipping Idols and Images are strictly forbidden -- yet they bow to the Idols of Mecca 5 times a day, and must in their lifetime go personally to Mecca to grovel before the ancient pagan idots. Now, if any Muslim would just study their Pure Narrative, ignoring all the mitigating explanations and justifications and excuses, they would see that they don't so much have a great Prophet as a great scoundrel.

Also, Sufis and the Sufi Orders predate Islam. So they are NOT Islamic. Sufis are Zoroastrians. Now, ofcourse, in that part of the wold they need to SAY they are Muslim. But we only have to review the History of the prominent Sufi Orders and see how they have been persecuted by the Sultanate and the Islamic Fundamentalist Communities. If Islam itself insists that the Sufis are NOT truly Muslim, and if we can examine Sufi Doctrines and Practices and see Zoroastrian Influences, then we must conclude that the Sufis are Zoroastrian.

Indeed, which brings up one of the major flaws of Islam. Mohamed was supposed to be a Prophet. But a Prophet of WHAT Religion. I suppose Mohamed as started out as an advocate of Zoroastrian Influence, but Beduin Pride and Arab Nationalism soon learned to ignore these Old Persian Influences and made the Koran and Mohamed an isolated Religion all to itself. And the Context of this New Religion was narrowly prescribed. Almost the entire Koran was composed as Mohamed either argued against or engaged in Wars and Persecutions. This is a context that can hardly be discerned to be Religious and Spiritual.